Elongated members are useful as fishing rods, ski poles, tent poles and the like. The problem of transporting and storing such rods or other elongated members, which are awkward and unwieldly in their assembled state, and parts for which are easy to misplace when disassembled, has been a long-existent problem and one to which a certain amount of inventive ingenuity has been applied.
In the art generally are three types of hinges for collapsible members: hinges which employ mechanical linkages, hinges or springs to join separate segments of the rod or pole (i.e., metallic or other rigid structures which are attached to and a part of the rod or pole), hinges which employ a resilient or tensible cord or spring or other material along or within the entire length of the member, some requiring a mechanism to apply tension to the cord; and hinges which employ elastic or elastomeric material to join separate segments of the rod or pole.
These mechanisms of the past while suitable to perform the function intended are not particularly adapted to the environment in which such elongated members are used. If the elongated member is a fishing rod having its segments joined by such hinges, or a ski pole or tent pole, wind, rain, constant exposure to air and, in the case of fishing equipment, exposure to salt water, gasoline and oil causes such hinging mechanisms to deteriorate and decompose leading to failure of the hinge mechanism.